Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Oval and Out - October 2007
After a couple of months away it’s nice to be back typing away at the keyboard (or is it?). The Legends season came to its’ usual early ending over the Bank Holiday weekend in August at Brands Hatch. The title itself was settled in the penultimate race of the day which meant that the final was a ‘no pressure’ race. It produced the race of the year with six cars thrashing it out for the lead and John Jon Higgins taking the win over Chris Greive who had just won the title. It sent everyone off home extremely happy and looking forward to the ‘Winter’ non championship races scheduled for Croft and Brands.
Former Legends man Ian Sturt went back to his roots this year and is racing on the Rolling Thunder Show in the Superstox. I’ve not been able to get over to Arena to see any of the races but am told it’s an excellent night out and Sturty is top of the points. Ian’s son, Jake, is hoping to make his debut some time soon as well.
Holiday this year was on Jersey and luckily there was some motor sport to watch on the beach just outside St Helier . The racing was on three different size ovals coned out on the sand. The smallest oval was used for the juniors on motorbikes. The intermediate circuit for slightly bigger bikes and the biggest one was for the cars and the grasstrack/speedway bikes. The cars ran in two groups – the productions which had a fairly decent looking grid and the lesser supported but spectacular Beach Cars which are essentially grass trackers. It was a nice event and there was a big crowd enjoying the racing – it’s all free to view and there was the opportunity to have a look around the cars in the pit/paddock area plus a decent public address system which kept everyone informed throughout the afternoon.
It was very sad to learn of the death of former Superstox and Midget driver Rod Tanswell. Rod was without doubt the first real superstar in the Midgets. Indeed he was one of the innovators of the class and won most of the major trophies in the early years. He was the first Points Champion (1968) and won the following two seasons as well. He was twice National Champion (1969 & 1972), British Champion (1972) and the inaugural European Champion in 1973. Up until the end of the 1972 season Rod raced a Dastle Mk3 but went on to race in the first front engine Fireball designed by Frank Boyles - the Mk3. Rod won with the Fireball on its' debut in the National Championship at Wimbledon in 1972.
His achievements should not be underestimated as all his titles were won when the formula boasted its biggest driver base through both Spedeworth and the MARC. Rod also did most of the early public relations work for the class in the Spedeweek race programme and Wheelspin magazine under the pen name "The Informer", never giving himself much in the way of self promotion but instead concentrating on others. He also wrote the 'Evolution of Midgets' chapter of the Spedeworth book 'Living With Spede' which provides a superb account of the formative years of the current formula.
Following his retirement from Midget racing at the end of the 1973 season Rod still supported the Midgets with the occasional presentation of the Rod Tanswell Challenge Trophy which was contested when the cars raced on Spedeworth circuits. He continued to work for Spedeworth and I remember him doing a lot to promote Arlington meetings and also editing Wheelspin.
Onto the circuits and my usual look at how ex oval racers are doing out there. Paul Lund won another two races in the Dunlop MAXX Sport Cup in his Alfa Romeo 147. As it’s the first year of competition there is no championship status as such but Paul is the top points scorer so far. Sad to report that Jo Polley had to miss a round of the Mighty Mini championship at Oulton Park due to budget problems. A look at the Formula 6 Karting website shows at least three oval related drivers in the Cadet category. Conner Mills (son of former Group A Hot Rodder Steve) is 3rd in class at the moment with Bobby Thompson (son of ex Superstox & Sprint Car driver Paul) in 6th. Lee Caroline’s young son Jamie is also racing in the cadets sporting the family number 38.
It was nice to see loads of cars in the car park at Rockingham for the August outing. I’ve long been saying that a good way to get new fans to racing is to invite and involve owners clubs in meetings. The RS Owners Club, as well as bringing some extra spectators, brought in some impressive machinery to look at. Unfortunately the weather let us all down once again at that particular meeting. Let’s hope for some sunshine next season.
The Brands Pickup meeting saw the debut of ex F1 Stocker Damien Carr. He had a good couple of races and wound up 13th in the second race out of an entry of 24. He started both races from the back of the grid too. More Rookies would be a good thing in Pickups! The meeting saw a win for Damo’s big brother Simon (his first for three years) and the first win of the season for a very much in form Nic Grindrod.
Former Legends man Ian Sturt went back to his roots this year and is racing on the Rolling Thunder Show in the Superstox. I’ve not been able to get over to Arena to see any of the races but am told it’s an excellent night out and Sturty is top of the points. Ian’s son, Jake, is hoping to make his debut some time soon as well.
Holiday this year was on Jersey and luckily there was some motor sport to watch on the beach just outside St Helier . The racing was on three different size ovals coned out on the sand. The smallest oval was used for the juniors on motorbikes. The intermediate circuit for slightly bigger bikes and the biggest one was for the cars and the grasstrack/speedway bikes. The cars ran in two groups – the productions which had a fairly decent looking grid and the lesser supported but spectacular Beach Cars which are essentially grass trackers. It was a nice event and there was a big crowd enjoying the racing – it’s all free to view and there was the opportunity to have a look around the cars in the pit/paddock area plus a decent public address system which kept everyone informed throughout the afternoon.
It was very sad to learn of the death of former Superstox and Midget driver Rod Tanswell. Rod was without doubt the first real superstar in the Midgets. Indeed he was one of the innovators of the class and won most of the major trophies in the early years. He was the first Points Champion (1968) and won the following two seasons as well. He was twice National Champion (1969 & 1972), British Champion (1972) and the inaugural European Champion in 1973. Up until the end of the 1972 season Rod raced a Dastle Mk3 but went on to race in the first front engine Fireball designed by Frank Boyles - the Mk3. Rod won with the Fireball on its' debut in the National Championship at Wimbledon in 1972.
His achievements should not be underestimated as all his titles were won when the formula boasted its biggest driver base through both Spedeworth and the MARC. Rod also did most of the early public relations work for the class in the Spedeweek race programme and Wheelspin magazine under the pen name "The Informer", never giving himself much in the way of self promotion but instead concentrating on others. He also wrote the 'Evolution of Midgets' chapter of the Spedeworth book 'Living With Spede' which provides a superb account of the formative years of the current formula.
Following his retirement from Midget racing at the end of the 1973 season Rod still supported the Midgets with the occasional presentation of the Rod Tanswell Challenge Trophy which was contested when the cars raced on Spedeworth circuits. He continued to work for Spedeworth and I remember him doing a lot to promote Arlington meetings and also editing Wheelspin.
Onto the circuits and my usual look at how ex oval racers are doing out there. Paul Lund won another two races in the Dunlop MAXX Sport Cup in his Alfa Romeo 147. As it’s the first year of competition there is no championship status as such but Paul is the top points scorer so far. Sad to report that Jo Polley had to miss a round of the Mighty Mini championship at Oulton Park due to budget problems. A look at the Formula 6 Karting website shows at least three oval related drivers in the Cadet category. Conner Mills (son of former Group A Hot Rodder Steve) is 3rd in class at the moment with Bobby Thompson (son of ex Superstox & Sprint Car driver Paul) in 6th. Lee Caroline’s young son Jamie is also racing in the cadets sporting the family number 38.
It was nice to see loads of cars in the car park at Rockingham for the August outing. I’ve long been saying that a good way to get new fans to racing is to invite and involve owners clubs in meetings. The RS Owners Club, as well as bringing some extra spectators, brought in some impressive machinery to look at. Unfortunately the weather let us all down once again at that particular meeting. Let’s hope for some sunshine next season.
The Brands Pickup meeting saw the debut of ex F1 Stocker Damien Carr. He had a good couple of races and wound up 13th in the second race out of an entry of 24. He started both races from the back of the grid too. More Rookies would be a good thing in Pickups! The meeting saw a win for Damo’s big brother Simon (his first for three years) and the first win of the season for a very much in form Nic Grindrod.
# posted by RJ Neil @ 5:48 AM 
